Tracey/Zoe/Rachel

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Topic Title: Tracey/Zoe/Rachel

Topic Description: Tracey/Zoe/Rachel, Adult themes.

Type of story: Long fiction

Rating: A

Main Characters: Tracey Thompson, Eve Jacobsen/Zoe McCallister, Rachel Thompson.

Other characters: Peter Baker, Clare Brody and others not featured in the show.

Genre: Angst/Drama

Warnings: Drug overdose [mild]

Is Story being proof read: No

Summary: Background story of Tracey, Eve/Zoe and Rachel.

Part 1:

Tracey Thompson, Eve Jacobsen, and Rachel Armstrong were best friends. They had known each other since young and their parents were all friends. They considered each other as sisters and remained tight throughout primary and high school. Even in school, everyone knew how tight they were. But, all that changed, when in the winter of their second to last year in high school, Eve’s family moved away. The girls spent the last week of Eve’s time together by having sleepovers and by just hanging out with each other. On Eve’s last day, the girls reluctantly said their goodbyes and promised to keep in touch with each other. They promised to call during weekends and send texts and email to keep each other updated on their lives. Little did they know that their lives would change on that very day. That was the last time that they’d see each other in a long time.

The emails, texts and letters came. Soon, as they moved on with life, the emails, texts and letters were less and less frequent. All three girls went to college and each got on with their own lives. Tracey, who was the oldest amongst the three, had always wanted to be a cop. Rachel, who always looked up to her father, wanted to become a doctor just like her dad. Lastly, Eve, whose life was turned upside down by the tragic event of her past, wanted to be a nurse. For her, being a nurse could help her achieve something that she had never truly got- someone to care for her and to treat her right. Someone like Tracey or Rachel. Eve knew that amongst everyone that she had met in this world, her two best friends were the only ones who truly cared about her. But, things had changed. Tracey had changed. Rachel had changed. She had changed. And she knew it.

Tracey graduated from cop school and had quickly made her way to the top. She managed to earn the respect of her colleagues as well as her bosses not only because she was a fast learner but she was very capable and intelligent. She had solved many cases and worked with many great police officers. Her superiors were really proud of her and there was even the talk of a promotion somewhere along the line. Tracey knew that she was where she’d always wanted to be. For her, being a cop was not only something that she loved but it [the thought of being a cop and probably a detective] was what kept her going. Her whole life she had been overshadowed by her older sibling. Her parents had always compared her to her brother. Thomas was always the bright one. He was always the one making their parents proud. It was always a case of ‘Thomas this and Thomas that.’ It was never ‘Tracey this and Tracey that.’ Everything was Thomas. To be fair, her life hadn’t always been this bad. Whenever her parents would go round telling anyone who was willing to listen about Thomas’ latest achievements, Tracey would seek comfort in her friends-Eve and Rachel. But, when Eve moved away and when Rachel and her both went to different colleges and universities, everything fell apart. It was like as though their friendship had vanished away like smoke.

Rachel Armstrong or more precisely, Dr. Rachel Armstrong was a brilliant doctor. Not only was her father, Dr. Robert Armstrong, a respected doctor but it seemed that Rachel herself was gifted in that area. But, instead of practicing like her father, she chose psychiatry. Ever since then, her father had resented her for it. Her brother, Brad made a living for himself as a teacher. Rachel, who became the apple of her father’s eye when she decided to be a doctor, was now, just plain Rachel. Robert couldn’t bear the fact that his little girl had chosen psychiatry rather than being a normal medical doctor just like him. Rachel had resented him for thinking so low of her. She would cry herself to sleep each night because Brad had managed to escape her father’s taunts but Rachel couldn’t. The only person whom Rachel could turn to for comfort was her mother, Elaine. Elaine knew that Robert was someone who valued reputation more than anything else. He saw Rachel’s decision as something of degradation. He had trouble understanding that Rachel was now a grown woman and could think for herself and decide on her life. However, the Armstrong’s lives would be shattered three years later when Elaine and Robert were involved in an accident. Robert had managed to escape unscathed but Elaine was not so lucky. As a result of that crash, Elaine now suffered from amnesia and had a memory span of a mere 30 seconds. Rachel had never gotten over the fact that her once confidant was now no longer available to be the confidant that Rachel needed. Rachel had never felt so alone before in her entire life apart from the day that Eve, Tracey and Rachel had gone their separate ways. Their promise of always keeping in touch and always being there for each other was no more than a thing in the past.

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Part 2:

Amongst the three of them, Eve’s life was the one that changed the most. She moved away from her best friends and then having lost her parents in a freak accident and being sent to live with her grandparents. Eve never truly recovered from the trauma that she suffered after her parents died. The funeral was a quiet affair. Tracey and Rachel didn’t attend the funeral because Eve had moved to another state. She was upset that they didn’t come but she accepted the fact that it was the distance. She did get a letter and a card from each of them. For once, those letters and cards made Eve feel loved. True, her parents had always loved her. They gave her what she wanted but they also never spoiled her. They made sure she knew that there were limits and boundaries to certain things. Now that they were gone, Eve had no one. Her grandparents weren’t exactly thrilled at the fact of having to look after this 17 year old teenager who, to them, was like every teenager- a rebel. What they didn’t really understand was that Eve was not your typical everyday teenager. She was so much more than that. But they would never find out about it. Her grandparents died not too long after that and the 17 year old teenager was sent to foster homes after foster homes. No one would have her for more than 3 months because they all thought she was weird. But, to Eve, she wasn’t weird. She was special. And she knew it. She was an absolute genius but none of them were too smart to see it. ‘It’s alright. I will prove to them that I am special and that they were wrong and what they did to me was wrong. They will regret it for the rest of their lives,’ thought Eve.

As the three friends lost themselves in their lives-work, romance, friends- the more they blocked each other out. The pain of the memories of each other was just too much to bear. Neither would admit the truth-they missed each other profusely. Neither of them wanted to take the first step towards reconciliation. To each of them, it was not their fault. Things changed. People changed. They changed. But neither of them was willing to admit it. All that changed on April 2nd 2005.Their lives changed forever on that very day.

Teaser:

The newspaper heading read: ‘SUMMER BAY STALKER DEAD IN TYRE FACTORY EXPLOSION.

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Okay, here's the next part! Hope you like it!

The newspaper heading read: ‘SUMMER BAY STALKER DEAD IN TYRE FACTORY EXPLOSION.’

In what was described as the most grueling storyline ever, Summer Bay is now at peace with the death of its famous Stalker. According to Detectives Peter Baker and Clare Brody, who had been in charge of the case, the Stalker was someone unexpected amongst the local community. Many people had at first suspected Marc Edwards as the stalker but when Mr. Edwards died, further evidence emerged that the stalker was still out there and very much alive.

It has been revealed that the Stalker was responsible for the plane crash, the fires and other major events and scaring the daylights out of the residents. For weeks speculation had arisen as to who the mystery Stalker was and police had many suspects, all of which were local residents of the Bay.

Today, at an exclusive press conference, Detective Peter Baker revealed to the residents of Summer Bay as to who the mystery stalker was.

Local resident, Colleen Smart, when interviewed, had this to say: ‘Mind you, when I was having Lancie, I thought I was going to die. With this stalker out on the loose, it was a nightmare. Having to look behind my back and watch if I was going to be attacked. [A/N: not that I would’ve cared if you did]. And just going to bed every night…..

Alf Stewart, respected resident of Summer Bay, had this to say: ‘I am relieved that this flamin’ thing is finally over. After everything that everyone’s been through and all the people the stalker had scared away, I hope the town goes back to how it was before. Not only hope but I know in my heart that we will bounce back from this. We always do and nothing, not even some crazy mad person on the loose will burn the flame of togetherness that the people of Summer Bay share.’

Whilst many people were relieved that the ordeal is finally over and they can finally move on, the most wanted man in town was not the stalker but was Detective Baker, the man responsible for bringing the stalker’s reign to a halt. This is what he had to say:

I am very happy that this is finally over. As disappointed as I am at not being able to catch the stalker, I am glad that we have got rid of the stalker once and for all. It has been confirmed by forensics that no one could have survived that blast at the tire factory today. Both myself and Sally Fletcher saw the place blow up with our own eyes and according to Ms Fletcher, she said that she had bolted the door of a room in an effort to trap the stalker to buy her some time to escape.

When asked about the identity of the stalker, Detective Baker replied: Zoë McCallister- the new nurse of Northern District Hospital. She had us all fooled. She was an absolute genius. Not once did we suspect it was her.

Detective Baker hinted that there was a twist to the whole thing as well. ‘Zoë McCallister is not her real name at all. She killed Ms. McCallister and assumed her identity because Ms. McCallister had been accepted as a nurse in NDH. Apparently she had come to the Bay in order to exact revenge for Sarah Lewis. That was her motivation.

And her name? Eve Jacobsen.

Tracey immediately threw the papers when she saw the name. Eve. Eve was the stalker. Her Eve. The Eve that Tracey and Rachel had known since childhood. ‘No! It can’t be! Eve would never do something like that. They must’ve gotten it wrong. As hard as Tracey tried to fight back, the tears kept on falling. She collapsed on the sofa crying.

And her name? Eve Jacobsen.

Rachel put the paper down. She couldn’t read anymore. Not now. Not after this. ‘How could this be? I don’t understand. Eve would never do this. It wasn’t her style.’ Rachel was stunned. She couldn’t say or do anything. All she could think about at this moment in time was Eve was dead and…… TRACEY! Rachel ran to the phone and dialed Tracey’s number. She’d always had her number but had never actually rung her because she didn’t know what to say. ‘Please, please, please….. Pick up, Trace. Please, please..’ Rachel was panicking.

“Hello?”

Teaser: What happens now for Tracey and Rachel? Will they grow further apart with this news or will the rekindle a long lost friendship?

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Next part:

Tracey lay on the sofa just bawling her eyes out. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t even know what to think. She just felt lost. It was as though, with Eve dead, a part of her had died along with her. She didn’t even realize that the phone was ringing. When she did, she just remained where she was- unable to move. She was glued to the sofa. More like, she felt that the sofa had trapped her and wouldn’t let go of her. It was holding her captive. She couldn’t breathe. It was suffocating.

Meanwhile, Rachel was desperately trying to get Tracey on the phone. Her office said that she had gone home early. She tried her mobile but it went to voicemail immediately. She then tried Tracey’s house in the hope that she would be in but it ended up going into answering machine.

“Trace, it’s me. Rach. Are you there? I rung your office and they said you’d left for the day. I tried your mobile but it’s off. So, here I am, ringing your house in the hopes that you’re there. If you’re there, please pick up. If you’re not, please ring me when you get this message. Then again, I don’t think I have the right to demand of you to pick up the phone seeing as that we haven’t spoken in, what, 6 years or so but I think we need to talk. It’s about Eve. I know you read the newspaper. Please, if you’re at home, please, Trace, pick up. Please, just answer me. I know you’re there Trace….. I guess you’re probably not home yet. Please, ring me when you get this message, okay? I think it’s high time that we talk.”

Tracey wanted to pick up the phone. She really did. But, she just couldn’t bring herself to do so. Hearing Rachel’s voice made things even worse. For the first time, Tracey didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how to react. She was upset that Eve died but she was even angrier at Rachel. If Eve hadn’t died, then Rachel most probably wouldn’t have rung. Tracey was confused. The three of them were friends. No, they had been friends. And now, Eve was gone. And with Eve gone, she got Rachel back in her life. But, was it what she wanted? Tracey and Eve had been close because of the closeness in age. When Eve moved away, Tracey was devastated. A part of her just wanted to sit there on the sofa and mope. But she couldn’t. She had to do something. She knew that Eve wouldn’t have wanted her to just sit there. Yet, Tracey didn’t want to talk to anybody. Not even Rachel. She knew that if she did, she’d most probably end up yelling at Rachel. So, Tracey just sat there on the sofa and moped. She didn’t care anymore. She felt so empty. She just wanted to die…. At least dying would take away the pain that she was feeling at this moment in time. There was only one thing to do now. Tracey dragged herself up from the sofa and headed to the bathroom where the medicine cabinet was…

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Ignore the above post. Here's the next part. I was bored and decided to just write. This will be it for tonight. Enjoy!

Rachel hung up the phone. She didn’t know how Tracey would feel getting a phone call from her. After all, it had been 6 years that they hadn’t spoken. Rachel hoped that Tracey would ring her back. Deep down, she was afraid. Afraid that Tracey wouldn’t ring. Maybe she hadn’t arrived home yet. Maybe she’s busy. Rachel kept on trying to come up with excuses for Tracey not calling her back but to no avail. She wanted, no, she needed Tracey to ring her back. It was a matter of life and death, literally. She felt that it was time they talked. There was no way they could avoid each other anymore. Not now. Not after this. They had both lost a person dear to them. ‘Maybe she just needs time. Time to digest everything. After all, Tracey had always been the shy and emotional one in the group.’ Rachel knew that underneath that stoic demeanour that Tracey displayed to people, deep inside, she was breaking. Rachel didn’t know what to do. She knew that she had to be strong. Strong for Tracey. Strong for herself. About ten minutes later, Rachel finally broke down. She just cried. She didn’t know what to do anymore. Eve was dead. Tracey was most probably ignoring her. She felt alone. So alone. She had never ever felt this alone for a long time. The last time she had felt like this was finding out her mother was not the same person as she was. She felt so helpless. The last time she had felt this way, she had Eve and Tracey with her, comforting and consoling her. They were the two people in the whole entire world, apart from her mother that Rachel truly cared about. And, now that Eve was gone and Tracey was ignoring her, Rachel couldn’t deal with it. She just cried into her pillow hoping that maybe the bed was alive and would just swallow her.

After about six consecutive hours of crying and then stopping and then crying again, Rachel felt like she had emptied her reservoir of tears on to her pillow, which was sopping wet. To say that she was feeling much better was lying. She tried Tracey’s house again thinking that maybe Tracey would be home now. After all, it was already night and Tracey would have gotten home ages ago and got her message. ‘Guess I was right to begin with. She’s ignoring me. Who can blame her? Maybe I’ll just give her some more time,’ Rachel thought to herself. Tracey’s house phone rung and once again it went to answering machine. Rachel decided to leave another message despite the fact that she knew that Tracey most probably wanted nothing to do with her. “Tracey, it’s me, Rachel. I rung you once before and I’m ringing you again. I think we need to talk. Please, just call me back when you get this message. I’m really worried about you. Please, just talk to me. Just ring me. I don’t care what time you choose to ring me, but, please, just ring me.” Rachel was desperate. She really wanted to talk to Tracey but she couldn’t do so if Tracey was not willing to meet her halfway. All she could do was to just cross her fingers and her toes and just sit and wait for Tracey to ring her back. ‘Please, please. Come on Trace. Just ring me back.’ Rachel was restless. She couldn’t sit on a spot for more than a minute and then the next minute she was up walking. She just walked to and fro on the same spot basically wearing her carpet thin. In the end, she gave up and decided that the only way to relax was to draw herself a bath and just sit in there and relax. At least she could TRY to.

Teaser: Why isn't Tracey picking up the phone? Is it because of those pills? Is it because she's mad at Rachel?

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Here's the next chapter. Sorry it took so long! Hope you like it!

This update is dedicated to Shannon and Rachel

Meanwhile, at Tracey’s apartment:

Tracey was at the medical cabinet. She was looking for something to take away her pain. Tracey wasn’t in the right state of mind. She didn’t know what to think or do anymore. All she could think of was that if Eve was gone, life wasn’t worth living anymore. She wanted, no, needed Rachel. But she could never say it. A part of her was angry. Angry at Rachel for calling her now. At a time of crisis. If Eve hadn’t died, Rachel wouldn’t have given a damn. ‘This is your entire fault, Rach! If you hadn’t rung, I wouldn’t even be doing this! Why? Why did you have to ring me and act the concerned friend? Why?’ Tracey sobbed to herself. She searched her medicine cabinet and found a whole lot of painkillers. ‘Great. This will numb the pain.’ She unscrewed the first bottle which said, ‘POISON. IF TAKEN MORE THAN THE RECCOMENDED DOSAGE WILL KILL.’ but Tracey was too much in pain to read the label. She popped all of them into her mouth. “It’s not working!!” Tracey screamed. “The pain is still here. I need more!!!!” she yelled whilst opening yet another bottle labeled ‘POISON.’ Again, Tracey popped the contents of the bottle into her mouth. She didn’t care anymore. All she wanted was to end her life. And she didn’t want it to be a painful death. So, swallowing pills was the way to go. Before she knew it, Tracey had collapsed and was slumped on the bathroom floor.

Back at Rachel’s place:

Not many people would agree that the bath was the perfect place to think. But, it worked for Rachel. As she sat down in the warm bath, she willed herself to relax. She put all thoughts of Eve and of Tracey out of her mind. She was going to think of them in happier times. The times where nothing else mattered except the three of them. The times when they would have sleepovers and stay up until late talking and sharing secrets and dreams. The times where they had no worries about studies, jobs, relationships but just enjoy life. ‘Yes, indeed,’ thought Rachel. ‘Those were the days when nothing could come between us. We were like the three musketeers.’ At that thought, Rachel laughed. She remembered that day all too well. It was Eve who had first coined that. She remembered it as though it was yesterday…

Flashback:

“Hey guys, you know how everyone has a motto amongst their groups?” Eve asked all excited one fine summer day.

“Y-e-a-h….” Tracey and Rachel replied skeptically. They were both wondering what Eve had planned in her mind.

“Well, I think we should have one too. I know that we always said that we were different from everyone else-“

“I think you’re the one who said that ‘you’ were different from everyone else.” Rachel interrupted Eve before she could finish.

“Well, yeah, I am. But that’s not the point, Rach. Let me finish. My point is that, we are different from everyone else because we have this bond. It’s a very special bond. And nothing can break that bond. So, it’s very much like the ‘Three Musketeers’ in a way. I know it’s not original but I think they are the perfect example for us.” Eve replied, by this time practically jumping up and down in excitement.

“Seems to me someone’s had too much sugar today.” Tracey replied, clearly amused at Eve’s antics. “Calm down a little.”

“Anyway,” said Eve ignoring Tracey. “I think our motto should be, ‘All For One and One For All.’ What do you guys think? It’s so true though,” said Eve as she looked at both Tracey and Rachel expectantly for their reply.

Tracey and Rachel both exchanged amused glances and burst out laughing. Eve just stared but soon joined the laughter because Rachel had such an infectious laugh that anyone who heard it would laugh along. After about five minutes or so, it finally died down with tears streaming down their faces and clutching and their stomachs.

“Guys, I’m serious. What do you think?” Eve asked whilst having a mock-serious expression yet failing desperately.

“I think it’s a good idea.” Tracey said trying to be serious as well.

“Yeah. It is. I like it. I think it suits us perfectly. So, ‘One for All and All for One’?”

“YEAH!!” Eve and Tracey exclaimed.

‘Yes, those were the good old days,’ Rachel reminisced as tears fell down her face. ‘I wish we didn’t go our separate ways. I wish Eve hadn’t moved away. Then, none of this would have happened. Life would be just perfect with Tracey and Eve….

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Here's the next part! Enjoy!

The longer she sat in the bath, the more the memories flooded through her mind. It was as though someone had just knocked off the top of a water hydrant and let the water burst out in every direction possible. Rachel felt that she was the hydrant that had been knocked down and the water was the feelings that she had kept inside her for so long- the pain of separation from Eve; the pain of rejection by her father, the pain of having lost a close confidant; and now, the pain of having loss a close friend. ‘Make that two close friends,’ thought Rachel. She wished that there was some way in which she could get Tracey to talk. She debated about going over to Tracey’s place but in the end decided to stay home in order to give Tracey some time. ‘I’ll stop by her workplace tomorrow and see how she’s doing,’ Rachel decided. ‘At least there she can’t go off at me.’ The cowards way but the safest way. Well, the one and only way. With that decision firmly made, Rachel got out of the bath and decided to call it an early night. Little did Rachel know what was in stored for her the next day.

The next day at the police station:

It had been three days since Peter Baker returned to the City after solving the mystery of the Summer Bay Stalker. Before he knew it, he was being hounded by the paparazzi wanting to know everything about the case. In the end, he had no choice but to give a press conference where members of the media were allowed to ask any questions related to the Summer Bay Stalker. What annoyed him the most was that he had already given a press conference in Summer Bay before he left. However, he knew that if he didn’t, his superiors would be very much annoyed. Peter had hoped that everything would have just ended there and that everyone would leave him and Clare in peace to just relax. After all, he had a massive amount of paper work to do just with this case alone and it was giving him a headache. It worked and he managed to please his superiors as well as bring him the much needed peace. When he returned, he found that most of the cases that he’d been working on were taken over by his longtime colleague, Tracey Thompson. He was eternally grateful to Tracey for helping him clear his desk off those cases. When he came into work today, he found that Tracey was not at her desk as she was always there before him. Taking into account that he was late today didn’t help things. ‘Maybe she just slept in or took the day off sick,’ Peter thought to himself. ‘Well, she deserved it anyway seeing as that she looked positively pale when she left yesterday.’ Any thought of Tracey was soon lost as Peter drowned himself in finishing off his paperwork. He had to meet Clare for lunch today and he wanted to finish it all off by then.

By lunchtime, Peter was all done except for a few more pages which could be left for after lunch. Just as he was about to go and meet Clare, his superior officer, Superintendent Murphy called him into his office. ‘Oh boy, here we go again,’ Peter sighed as he made his way into the office.

“I know that you probably have a lunch date but I need you to drop some stuff off at Tracey’s place. She didn’t call in sick today, which is very weird. However, she did look really pale yesterday so I’m guessing that she’s resting. These documents are very important and I need her to look over them.”

“Don’t you think that if she was sick, she wouldn’t be able to look at it and get it back to you ASAP?”

“Yes. It just needs to be looked over and that can be done by tomorrow or the day after at the very latest. Just get it to her, will you?”

“Yeah. I will. Gives me an opportunity to check up on her as well.”

“Thank you, Detective Baker. Your help is much appreciated.

With that, Peter exited the room and headed to his car. On the way he rung Clare and told her that he’d be a little late as he had to drop off important documents over at Tracey’s. “It’ll also give me an opportunity to see how she is. I’ll see you soon, okay? Bye and I love you.” With that, Peter shut the call and got into his car and drove to Tracey’s.

Rachel was running late. She had overslept and was rushing to find her notes for a talk she was going to be giving to some university students. Any thoughts of dropping by at Tracey’s workplace had been erased as she rushed to get to the hospital where the talk was being held. “Oh my God, I cannot believe I slept in! This is so embarrassing! Of all days to have slept in, why, Rachel, did you have to sleep in today?” Rachel asked herself. Rachel ran to the car and sped like the devil was at her back. She arrived at the hospital with minutes to spare and sped down the corridor towards the conference centre where everyone was waiting.

“Good morning everyone. My name is Dr. Rachel Armstrong and I will be your lecturer today. Will you please give me a few minutes to catch my breath and then we can start….. Right, now, let’s begin. Psychiatry…..”

And that was how Dr. Rachel Armstrong spent her morning. Giving a talk about psychiatry to university students without having a clue whatsoever of the shock that awaited her as she went on her rounds later on that day.

Meanwhile, outside Tracey’s apartment, Peter encountered a man knocking on her door. He was bald, middle ages and dressed in a brown shirt and blue denim jeans. He was banging on the door really hard that Peter had to stop him before he broke the door.

“I’m sorry sir, but I’m going to have to ask you to stop that. If you do not, I am going to have to bring you down to the station for harassment.”

“Stay out of this. It’s none of your business.”

“Detective Peter Baker. How can I help?” [shows badge]

“Uhm, Michael Blake. I’m the landlord of the apartment. Detective Thompson over here had her radio on loud from yesterday onwards and there have been several complaints from the other residents. I’ve been knocking on this door for ten minutes now and there’s no answer. I know that she’s in there because her car is still here.”

“Maybe she’s in the bathroom or something. Have you tried ringing her?”

“I wouldn’t be knocking on her door, now would I, Detective?” By this time, the landlord was clearly annoyed. First his tenant wasn’t answering and now this smart ass detective was asking stupid questions.

“Do you have a key or something to open the door, then?”

“If I did I wouldn’t be here now would I detective?”

“Aren’t landlords supposed to have a spare key?”

“Look here, Detective. This is my business so why don’t you just butt out of it?”

“Alright! Move aside!” Peter pushed Blake away.

“What do you think you’re doing? You are not going to break down that door. Do you know how much I am going to have to pay for it?”

“Look, something could have happened to her. Do you want to be responsible if anything happened to her? Well, if you don’t, move aside!”

By then, Peter had lost his temper at the landlord for his idiotic behaviour as well as wasting his time. He was already late for his lunch date with Clare and this man wasn’t helping him whatsoever. Thus he decided to take matters into his own hands and knock down the damn door. Which was exactly what Peter did.

CRASH!!!!

Next: Will Peter and Michael Blake be able to save Tracey in time?

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Here's the next update! A BIG thanks to Lilone 2006 for this! Hope you guys enjoy it!

Peter immediately just ran in to the house calling out Tracey’s name. All thought of Blake and his stupid door was forgotten.

“Tracey! Tracey! Are you in here? Tracey!” Peter was now starting to panic as he ran from room to room looking for Tracey who was no where to be found. ‘Maybe she went out to get some stuff from the shops or something.’ Suddenly, he heard someone calling him.

“Detective! Over here! The bathroom! Quick!”

“Move away! [Pushes Blake away and bends down and checks for pulse and sees the bottle of pills]. Call an ambulance immediately! She overdosed on pills! What are you standing there for? Go!” Peter practically yelled whilst he started to perform CPR on Tracey.

“Hello? This is Michael Blake. I need an ambulance at 20, Alfred Street immediately! Someone’s overdosed on pills! She’s been unconscious for…. [Looks at Peter for instructions]

“Possibly 24 hours!”

“Possibly 24 hours! There’s someone performing CPR already! Just hurry up and get here please!”

It was as if Peter’s world had came crashing down, he was frantically trying to revive his colleague who had tried to take her life but nothing was happening. Her body was in front of him but everything he tried to bring her back was just useless. She was fading on him fast.

Michael kept repeating, “Is she going to be ok” over and over again.

Peter’s eyes were filling up with tears, as he knew his good friend was lying motionless in front of him.

“Let me try!” Michael shouted as he pushed Peter aside to try and bring her back.

It was useless anything he did wasn’t working.

Michael turned around and looked at Peter, “I think she is gone.”

Peter looked at Tracey; he was determined to bring her back to him.

“Move out of the way!” Peter shouted as he shoved Michael away from Tracey’s body.

Peter picked Tracey up then moved her outside of the apartment where he tried CPR once more. He frantically tried to give Tracey air and pushed on her chest to bring her back.

The Ambulance arrived just as Peter pressed on her chest. The paramedics ran towards Peter, Tracey and Michael. Peter was determined to try once more. Just as he was about to hand Tracey over to the paramedics she started to cough and slowly came around looking at Peter.

“Pete” Tracey said as she slowly started to regain consciousness.

Peter was ecstatic that Tracey was talking and was awake. Peter watched as Tracey was put on to the stretcher, Peter held Tracey’s hand all the way to the ambulance where she was put in the back and given more treatment. Peter kept grinning at Tracey as paramedics were treating her.

“Pete, I’m sorry I left you with all the paper work.”

The Ambulance started to drive towards the hospital. Peter held Tracey’s hand all the way, but as they where taking her out of the ambulance and into the hospital she suddenly let go out Peter’s hand and became unconscious.

“What’s wrong, why is she not awake?!” Peter shouted to the paramedics as she was rushed into the hospital.

“Is she going to be ok?!” Peter shouted as he followed them into the hospital.

As they entered the hospital, Tracey was handed over to Dr. Rachael Armstrong where the paramedics told her:

“We have given her 5mg of morphine but as we entered the hospital she lost consciousness”.

“Please please do something!”

Peter frantically shouted to Dr. Armstrong as she walked in to intensive care to treat his colleague.

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Rachel Armstrong had been hard at work all morning- first with the lecture and then she had to go on her rounds. To top it all off, her boss had dumped all of a colleague’s work on Rachel to do. To say that Rachel was annoyed was not even close. She was fuming mad. She was going to spend the break after her rounds later to go round to Tracey’s work place to catch up with her. Now that more crap was dumped on her shoulder, there was no chance of doing so. Rachel wanted so badly to tell her boss to stick it and that the reason why Dr. Albert Roberts was not at work was because he drunk himself silly last night and was too hung over to come in to work today. She resolved to have a word with that idiot Roberts when she sees him tomorrow. ‘Enough is enough!’ Rachel thought to herself as she exited the elevator and headed toward the wards. However, before she could step out of the elevator, her pager beeped.

‘DR. ARMSTRONG. YOU ARE NEEDED AT THE ER. IMMEDIATELY’

When Rachel reached the ER, what she saw shocked her to no end. The last person she ever expected to see in that stretcher was on it. Unconscious. She was speechless. She couldn’t say anything. ‘Tracey… what did you do?’ she snapped herself out if it immediately. She realized that she had to save Tracey. She had already lost a friend and there was no way in hell she was going to lose another. ‘Never! Not if I can prevent it!’ Rachel resolved to herself.

“Okay guys, what have we got?”

“Tracey Thompson! Overdosed on two bottles of pain killers! She’s been unconscious for more than 24 hours now. Detective Baker managed to revive her and we have given her 5mg of morphine but as we entered the hospital she lost consciousness!”

“Alright let’s move her into a bed immediately and get him out of here!” Rachel practically yelled, pointing towards Peter as she pushed the stretcher on to a nearby bed.

“Right. On my count. 1… 2…. 3…. Up!” Rachel said as Tracey was lifted from the stretcher and on to the bed.

“Tracey? Can you hear me? Come on! Give me 100mg more of-“

“BP is at 39! And dropping really fast! She’s going to go in to cardiac soon-“

“Too late!” Rachel practically yelled. By now, she was freaking out. She had to save Tracey. ‘Come on, Trace! Don’t die on me!’ Rachel thought to herself as the nurses got the defibrillator.

“Charge to 150…. Clear!”

“No change!”

“Charge to 200….. Clear!”

“Nothing!”

“Come on, Tracey! Charge to 250…. Clear!”

“Nothing!”

“Charge to 300…. Clear!”

“Nothing!”

“Again! Come on! You can’t die on me, Tracey! Clear!” By this time, Rachel was getting really frustrated as well as scared. She didn’t expect this to happen. She didn’t expect to see Tracey in that stretcher and she didn’t expect to be the one to save her at this moment.

“BP’s 50 and rising….. BP’s back to normal now. 120 over 80!”

“Alright. Now let’s get this poison out of her system.” Rachel was relieved. In fact, she had never been this happy ever. She had managed to save her best friend. Nothing else mattered. Now she was going to make sure that Tracey received the best possible care during her stay here.

Meanwhile, outside the ER:

Peter was freaking out. He had never been this afraid before in his life. The last time he felt this way was when Sally had been taken hostage by the stalker and he thought that he’d never be able to return her safely to her family. Now, his best friend and longtime colleague was at the edge of death’s door and there was nothing he could do but sit and wait. He couldn’t even stay still. All he could think about was that Tracey had to be alright. She couldn’t die. All thoughts of Clare was lost on him. That is, until his phone rang.

“Peter Baker.”

“Pete? It’s Clare! Where are you? You were supposed to meet me an hour ago after you dropped off the stuff at Tracey’s!” Clare was fuming.

“I’m so sorry, Clare. Something came up. I’m at the hospital. Tracey overdosed on painkillers and-“

“What? Is she alright? What happened? Why? Stay where you are. I’ll be there as soon as possible!” Clare practically screamed down the phone before Peter even had the chance to finish his sentence.

“Okay. I’ll see you.”

After that phone call, Peter Baker went back to pacing the floor. He was at the point of wearing a hole in the floor when Clare came running up to him. Peter had never been so glad to see her in his entire life.

“Oh my God! I’m so glad that you’re here.” Peter exclaimed, wrapping Clare in a big hug.

“Any news? Is she going to be alright?”

“Nothing. They kicked me out of the ER and I’ve been pacing here ever since.”

“I don’t understand. Why would Tracey do such a thing as this?”

“Beats me. I wouldn’t be here if I knew.”

“Pete, listen to me. You need to calm down. The doctor’s are doing the best that they can to save her. I know that you’re worried but there’s nothing that you can do. and getting all worked up isn’t going to do anything, let alone help anyone.”

“You don’t understand, Clare. It’s… complicated.”

“What is so complicated about it?”

“I should have said something when I saw her yesterday. She was upset yet I didn’t say anything. If I did, we wouldn’t even be here right now and Tracey wouldn’t even be in there fighting for her life!” Peter was furious. Furious at himself and furious at Clare for not being able to understand.

After fifteen minutes of awkward silence between Peter and Clare the doors of the ER opened and out walked Dr. Armstrong together with the bed stretcher taking Detective Tracey Thompson to be admitted in to the wards.

“How is she? Is she going to be alright?” Peter asked franctically.

“She’ll be fine. We’ve given her some drugs for the poison and she should be fine in a day or two. We’ll still monitor her closely.”

“Can we see her?”

“Yeah, as soon as she’s up in the rooms. Although, I think you ought to go grab yourself a bite to eat, Detective Baker. You can come and see her after you’re done.”

“She’s right. Come on. Let’s grab something from the cafeteria.”

And with that, Detectives Peter Baker and Clare Brody left Dr. Rachel Armstrong standing there watching them and thinking about her hectic day….

[swfc]

Here's the next part. It isn't really good. Hope you guys like it!

Rachel had never been so relieved as to leave the ER with Tracey in tow and in stable conditions. If she had a choice, she’d never want to re-live this day ever. She didn’t know whether or not to feel grateful for Albert Roberts for not turning up to work today. On one hand, if he had, she would most probably be over at Tracey’s and would be in the same position as Detective Baker. Yet, on the other hand, because he didn’t turn up for work, she nearly lost another friend. ‘Either way, I’d still have to face the horror of knowing that Tracey very nearly died today. ‘Trace, why did you go and do such a stupid thing?’ Deep down, Rachel knew why. The answer was obvious. It had to do with Eve’s death. Nothing else would make Tracey react this strongly. This made Rachel feel a slight tinge of jealousy yet it didn’t stay for long. She knew that Tracey and Eve were close because they had a lot of things in common. She knew that even with that connection, they made sure Rachel was never left out. She resolved to talk to Tracey and find out what was going on. ‘Once she’s conscious again, that is.’ \ Now that she had fulfilled her duties, Rachel headed towards the doctor’s lounge to relax and to think back about the events of the day.

Before she knew it, Tracey had collapsed and was slumped on the bathroom floor.

Tracey was walking along the beach when she hears someone calling out to her.

‘Tracey! Tracey!’

‘Who’s that?’ Tracey spun round, trying to find the owner of that voice.

‘Tracey! Tracey!’

‘Who are you? What do you want? Show yourself! I have a gun and I’m not afraid to use it!’

‘Tracey, stop walking. It’s me. Eve. Your Eve.’

‘Eve?’ Tracey turned back and there, true enough, standing behind her, about ten feet away from her, stood Eve Jacobsen. Her Eve. Standing there looking just like the way that Tracey remembered her. Her red/blonde curly hair. Her smooth toned body that didn’t require any effort on her part to achieve it. Every single bit of Eve had been scorched on to her retinas the day that Eve left.

‘Are you a ghost? You’re supposed to be dead!’

‘I’m not a ghost. Come, give me your hand, Trace.’

‘You’re real!’ Tracey exclaimed. ‘Why? Why can I touch you?’

‘Because you willed it. You willed yourself in wanting to talk to me. To see me. And here I am.’

‘I don’t-Why?!?! Why did you leave me and Rachel? Why did you get yourself blown up in to a million pieces? Did you even think about us and how we’d react? Did you stop to think about me-’

‘SLAP!’

‘Why’d you do that for?’

‘Stop it! Stop feeling sorry for yourself! Trace, I need you to be strong. This is not how I wanted you to end your life. You have so much potential ahead of you. Yet, you chose to end it by swallowing pills. What is wrong with you? The real Tracey Thompson would never do this. The real Tracey Thompson would have grieved and then gotten on with her life because she knew that was how I would have wanted her to do! Not swallow pills! How’d you think Rachel is going to feel?’

‘Rachel? She doesn’t even care about me. She doesn’t even care about us. She doesn’t even give a damn to ‘All for One and One For All.’

‘She rung, didn’t she?’

‘Yes! This is all her fault! If she hadn’t rung me, I would’ve been fine.’

‘Would you? Would you have swallowed those pills?’

‘I….’

‘Exactly.’

‘You’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t think. I put so many people through so much. Thanks. Now you know why I need you in my life?’

‘I know, Trace. I know. Sometimes, things don’t go the way you plan. You just have to deal with it. That’s life…. I can’t stay long. I have to go.’

‘Please. Don’t go. Stay. For a little while longer,’ Tracey begged.

‘I can’t. but, before I go, I want you to promise me something.’

‘What is it?’

‘I want you to talk to Rachel. Now that I’m gone, you guys need each other. More than anything else. Always remember, “All for One and One For All”’

And with that, Eve Jacobsen was gone and Tracey Thompson opened her eyes.